Soft Spot
by Prettywitchiusaka
Summary: On an away mission to bring supplies to a jungle civilization, Riza is captured by their ruthless leader and held hostage against. Now Roy will have to tread ground carefully if he wants his Lieutenant back, especially with the risk of bloodshed high.


Soft Spot

by Prettywitchiusaka

Roy Mustang let out a yawn as he rubbed his temples with his fingers. It hadn't been easy sleeping upright in an uncomfortable vehicle chair for the entire night, but he managed it somehow. The scenery didn't help either, nothing but dirt road and blue sky for his piercing obsidian eyes to focus on.

He let out a sigh.

" _How did it get to this?_ " he thought to himself.

A few days ago, he received a call from Furhur Bradley, asking him to deliver a huge supply of rations to the eastern jungle village of Zambia. Having been told the situation, Roy immediately accepted the assignment without any further questions.

After all, he wasn't just a Colonel in charge of the military's Eastern Division, he was also the Flame Alchemist, a personal servant of the Furhur, himself. And since whatever Bradley requested was legally binding, Roy began asking when he could expect the rations. Whatever it took to climb up the ranks and become the next Furhur, provided it wasn't too corrupt.

Once the supplies had been delivered from Central to his little neck of the woods, Roy and his military unit began the long, two day trek through the eastern jungle to reach Zambia.

It wasn't the easiest trip, what with everybody complaining about how hot it was. But once the sun went down and they set up camp for the night, the group just sat around and played a few rounds of poker. Roy even managed to win a few rounds, cleaning out his friend, Jean Havoc in the process…At least until he got cleaned out by another man in the group named Vato Falman.

Yes, everything was going great until they were ambushed by some men claiming to be from Zambia, much to Roy's irritation.

It was times like this he wished his First Lieutenant, Riza Hawkeye was here; she always knew how to keep him calm and focused on his objective.

It was really a shame she wasn't here, right now. Though not because the Lieutenant decided to sit out this mission.

Despite having made quick work of some of the men with her gun prowess, one of the goons was smart enough to sneak up behind her and hit her on the head, knocking her unconscious.

Before Roy could do anything about it, the men had jumped into their own vehicle and drove away, taking her with them. All they left was a note from their boss, Zarman; the leader of Zambia. All it said was " _Mr. Mustang, I would like to see you in Zambia by tomorrow morning. You_ _ **do**_ _want your Lieutenant back, don't you?_ "

Wasting no time, the Colonel and the rest of his team hopped into the military Tumblr and began driving towards Zambia, taking turns between the five of them the entire night. And it certainly helped because by ten-thirty the following morning, they were only an hour outside Zambia.

Pretty soon they would get to see their friend and co-worker, again. But if Roy was being honest with himself, he wasn't too worried about Riza.

Sure, he was concerned for his trusted friend and bodyguard. But at the same time, he knew that Riza Hawkeye was not a stupid woman. She wouldn't be dumb enough to provoke her

captors or identify with them like the women in those crappy romance novels she read. If he knew Riza, and by now he was pretty confident in thinking he did, than she'd be playing it safe. She would've been choosing her words carefully, waiting patiently for them to come rescue her.

Yes, if he knew Riza as well as she knew him, than she was probably fine.

Besides, it was more at what he might have to do when they get there that was currently occupying his thoughts as opposed to the Lieutenant's safety. Better to think over the negotiations and how to make them go over smoothly as opposed to going in unprepared, he thought.

But just because the Colonel wasn't voicing his concern for his friend, didn't mean that the rest of his men weren't going to. Probably the most vocal was his young Master Sergeant, Kain Feury.

"I sure hope she's okay," he said out loud.

Not that Roy could really blame him for thinking that; Kain was a good friend of Riza's, and he knew she loved him like a little brother. Of course he would be wondering, even praying that she'd still be in one piece when they got there.

Mind you, that wasn't the **only** reason he was worried for her, but it was understandable. They were all feeling it.

But much like him, though, his Second Lieutenant Hayman Breda was trying to keep his cool. So, he gave Feury a little slap on the back.

"Ah, you worry too much, Feury," said the overweight man. "Lieutenant Hawkeye's fine, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so," said Vato Falman. "The Zambian ruler is known to be pretty ruthless. If he had the guts to take a military officer, he's either ambitious or in over his head."

While he held the rank of Warrant Officer, Vato had once been part of the military's investigations department. He was good at keeping his nose to the ground and picking up on information, the main reason his friend Maes Hughes had initially hired him. So much so, he used to joke about how he was a walking encyclopedia. But as far as Roy was concerned, that wasn't far off from the truth.

Especially since Vato's assumption wasn't wrong.

Yes, the Zambians were a fairly small town in the jungle, living off the land and water situated in their neck of the woods. But their chief Zarman was known to be a very tyrannical, even violent man. With his own gorilla force, he would gladly take and steal from anyone who came close to their home, be they friend or foe, man or women. No even military personnel were safe from his wrath.

That thought had been on Roy's mind since the night before, but that's not even what really concerned him. He knew he and his men could take Zarman and his army if they tried anything against them, especially if he used his flame alchemy. It's just that he'd rather avoid doing any harm towards Zarman if he could avoid it.

These people were still pretty primitive, after all.

While Zambians did have their own set of armed artillery (mostly stolen from their victims), they were still a very low tech society. They harvested their crops like farmers, their

irrigation system was wheel based, and aside from the few Zambian alchemists Roy knew back

in Central, most Zambians thought of alchemy as either magic or sorcery.

In a way, they reminded him an awful lot of the Ishbalans. And the last thing the Colonel wanted was another massacre; bodies injured, people screaming in agony. Honestly, if he had to actually incinerate someone using alchemy, he wasn't sure if he could-

"Hey, Chief?" Snapping out of his thoughts, Roy turned to face his other Second Lieutenant, Jean Havoc. He was driving the car and smoking a cigarette. "You okay?"

Roy was silent for a moment before turning his head away from his friend. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Just thinking."

Havoc smirked when he heard that; like he really didn't know what was troubling his friend and Colonel. "You think the Lieutenant's okay?"

"Hawkeye should be fine," the Colonel replied. "She's been in situations like this before, she knows how to play it safe. But that's not what's bothering me."

"Then what is it?" Jean asked. It was only when his eyes caught sight of the ignition glove on Roy's right hand did he get it. "Oh, right."

Jean focused his gaze back on the road, deciding it was best not to push the issue further. He'd always heard the stories of Roy's time in the Ishbalan uprising, how he'd been dubbed the

"hero" of that war despite all the shady stuff that went down there. But as much as he'd like to ask, he knew his boss didn't like talking about it so he never bothered.

Heck, Riza had been there too and she never talked about it, either. So he could only imagine what it must have been like out there.

…

Half an hour later, the Colonel and his men arrived outside of the village. As soon as they came to the reinforced gate surrounding the village, the group found a small band of burly black men standing there waiting to greet them, all of them armed with riffles on their backs. Some of them even had grenades hanging from their belts.

Of particular note was the man in the center.

He was wearing a ripped red shirt that showed off his built torso, and blue jeans with tanned sandals. A red bandana adorned his bald head, and a gun holster was hanging off to the side of his left hip.

There was no question in Roy's mind; this man was Zarman. The man in charge of this small civilization, the man holding his Lieutenant captive.

Once they were out of the car and armed, the Colonel placed his right hand in his pocket and turned to his team.

"Keep your rifles off to the side at all times," he whispered. "Only fire on them if they attack first, got it?"

"Yes, Sir," the group whispered while saluting their superior.

The group walked silently towards the small band of men, making Zarman happy as he walked over to greet them.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Mustang. I'm so pleased to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Roy replied.

Smiling at the military officer, Zarman held out his hand so they could shake. But Roy never took it. He just bore his angry gaze into Zarman's, much to his surprise.

"I see…," he said. Placing his hand off to the side, Zarman continued smiling at the Flame Alchemist. "I see you have brought our supplies, thank you. Come, I'll show you where you can drop it off and you can be on your way-"

"Not yet!" Roy said. "I believe your men have kidnapped one of my subordinates."

"Subordinate?…" Zarman asked. All while tapping his finger on his chin, as if he didn't know what the Colonel was referring to. "Oh yes, that woman that was with you. We'll take care of that now."

With the clap of his hands, a tall burly man came out of nowhere, walking a stoic Riza Hawkeye by the arm. Her hands had been tied up using ropes, but aside from that she was fine. She looked as every bit the stern and no nonsense soldier she always did.

Seeing that made Roy's men breathe a collective relief, but not him; he'd been right to assume she'd be okay. Which could only mean one thing.

"You see, Mr. Mustang; my men haven't hurt her in the slightest," replied Zarman.

"Of course they haven't; it's not exactly smart to waste your hostage. Especially if you want to make a trade of some sort," Roy remarked.

"That's what I said," Riza muttered under her breath.

Zarman smiled. "Oh, Mr. Mustang. What would make you think that?"

"Well what other reason would you have to kidnap my Lieutenant? It's pretty obvious you

want something extra with your provisions."

Zarman held his hands up. "All in good time," he said. "Now then, shall we make the trade?"

Roy let out a sigh; the sooner they could get this over with, the better. "Very well, what else do you want from us? I assume our ammunition?"

"No, nothing like that. You see, I want your Lieutenant."

Roy's eyes widened and he let out a gasp, as did the rest of his team. Feury, in particular was barely able to restrain himself from going over there and tearing this guy a new one.

"What!? How could you-"

Raising his hand, the Colonel said "Hold on." Seeing this, Rain stopped himself and stood at attention. Now that he got his subordinate to keep his cool, he turned his attention back to Zarman.

"May I ask why?"

"Well, you see, we heard that the military's lap dogs were on their way to deliver our supplies yesterday. We wanted to make sure you were going to come, so my men and I decided to spy on you."

Hearing that, Havoc turned to Breda and whispered "Told you we were being spied on."

The redhead shrugged. "Whatever," he said. "Anyone could've figured that out." Jean smirked; it felt nice to be vindicated for once.

"That's enough, you two," their Colonel said, making both men stand at attention. "Now what does this have to do with the Lieutenant?"

Zarman smiled. "Well you see, after my men tried to attack you, I saw what prowess this woman has with a gun…I had never seen anything like it."

Roy couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Riza roll her eyes; he was starting to get the feeling that this guy hadn't shut up about her natural talent with firearms the whole time she'd

been his prisoner.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, from that moment, I knew I must have her," he said. "From that moment, I knew it was love."

For the second time in the last five minutes, the Colonel felt his eyes widen."What!?"

"I want your Lieutenant to become my wife."

The entire team gasped in shock and anger.

Riza in particular, could feel her blood boiling. He mentioned wanting her for his army, but nothing about wanting to marry her. She put up with his sexist comments and his arrogant demeanour all night waiting for her friends to come, knowing that whatever he threw at her Colonel he could take it. She wouldn't become part of his gorilla army, no siren. But now he was saying he wanted to marry her!? This was ridiculous! She'd been quiet until now, but this was the last straw.

"Hold on a second! You can't just decide my future like that-"

"Silence!" he answered.

Without a second thought, he walked over to Riza and slapped her across the face, making her fall to the ground.

Roy, meanwhile, started gritting his teeth, barely restraining a growl. All he could see was red, right now. All he wanted was to snap his fingers and torch that son of a-

"Colonel!" said a voice he knew all too well; it was Hawkeye's.

He looked up to see her amber eyes boring into his as the burly man picked her up off the ground. To anyone else, it looked like she was angry with him. Disappointed, even that he nearly

lost his temper. But he knew better. Without verbally communicating it to him, she was telling him to keep his cool.

Not that he could blame her.

They both knew how irrational Roy could be when it came to the well being of his friends, and this was no exception; one wrong move and not only would he jeopardize the mission, but there could be casualties on both sides.

So, the Colonel took in a deep breath and placed his right hand back in his pants pocket, allowing himself to stand tall and bore his eyes into the cocky man before him.

"I see, so that's all you want then."

"But of course," said Zarman. "Surely, you understand my plight, Mr. Mustang?"

"Some of it I do understand, she **is** very physically attractive."

From out of the corner of his eye, Roy could see her blushing. Not that he was surprised; unless she was dressed up for a party, it was rare for him to comment on her looks.

And while he enjoyed seeing her clean-up, the Colonel always felt she was most beautiful when she was just being herself. Yes, as far as Roy was concerned, Riza Hawkeye was a kind, wonderful woman. But he was starting to get the impression that Zarman didn't see the same thing in her as he did.

No, he **knew** he didn't see her as he did. He could tell from the way that Zarman said "Yes…she is indeed…"

There seemed to be a dreamy, almost lustful yet loving look in his eye. Too bad Roy wasn't buying what he was selling, not even for a second. He knew that look all too well, mainly

because it was the exact same look he had in his eyes whenever he seduced a woman into bed with him, the same look in his conquest's eyes as she asked him to call her sometime.

No doubt about it, this man had nothing good in store for Riza.

But the Colonel wasn't too worried about that, right now. Not when he had some good dirt on Zarman, dirt he was about to use against him.

"But as I recall, you already have a wife, yourself, Zarman."

Roy never let trademark smirk creep onto his face, opting instead to let his face show no emotion. But inside, however, the Flame Alchemist couldn't help but beam with satisfaction. Surely, that little piece of information would be enough to put his opponent in checkmate.

Instead, the chief gave him a evil smile. " **Had** a wife. She passed away recently," he said. "And even if she hadn't, what does it matter? People like her are easily discardable."

While Roy kept his emotions in check, he could still feel his hand balling up into a fist inside his pocket. Primitive or not, this guy's sexist attitude was really starting to piss him off.

"Aren't you assuming a lot of me, though? I mean, you have no evidence to suspect that I'll just go along with what you're proposing."

"True, but I have my ways," Zarman said. "I could always ruin your reputation."

When he heard that, the Flame Alchemist felt a smirk form on his face. "You can try, but I doubt it would be easy. My military record is pretty clean."

"Is it now?" Hearing that, Roy looked up to see Zarman smiling at him, again. "You are the Flame Alchemist, are you not? I hear you are quite ambitious always looking for ways to work your way up the military ladder. Which is impressive when you consider your "War Hero" status."

Roy didn't say anything. Instead he just stood there, taking in everything this man was saying.

Honestly, he wasn't surprised that Zarman knew of his war criminal history Zambia was only fifteen miles away from what remained of Ishbal. The only question on his mind was what was this man was plotting?

"It would be a shame if that was suddenly taken from you," said Zarman. "Why if I wanted to, I could simply refuse your nations."

"But wouldn't you be at a disadvantage? Your people need those supplies to live."

"True. But word spreads fast, Mr. Mustang. If I were to complain directly to your Furhur, I guarantee you I will make it do that your career will be tarnished."

"But it would be my words against yours," the Colonel reminded him.

"Yes. But I can always find ways to make you look responsible."

Upon hearing that, Riza could feel her eyes widen. She knew exactly what this man was doing; he was trying to blackmail Roy. But unlike some other blackmail attempts she'd seen on her Colonel, this one actually seemed plausible.

If he refused, than Zarman would find a way to not only ruin his career, but also his chances of ever becoming Furhur. His chance for redemption would be gone and he would be reduced to a depressed, suicidal husk once again. She didn't want that for him. And so with somber eyes, the Lieutenant let out a sigh; she'd made her decision. She would allow herself to become Zarman's slave to protect her Colonel. Obviously she didn't want to, but she would gladly take it. Anything to save her Colonel from a life of misery and shattered

dreams.

"You wouldn't want that now, would you?"

Roy didn't respond to Zarman, he was too busy looking at his Lieutenant. The look in her eyes was sad and somber, like she'd made an awful decision. It made him angry.

ButZarman didn't notice any of this. If anything, he thought the pissed off look on his opponent's face meant that he'd won. It made him smile.

"That's what I thought. Now then, if you give me our rations, my men and my new wife will be on our way-"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

Zarman felt his eyes widen when he heard that. With an angry face, he turned around to face the stoic Colonel. "What did you say?"

"You heard me; I'm not going to do what you've asked of me."

Zarman raised an eyebrow. "You mean you'd forsake my people in favour of this woman?

That's awfully cold of you, Mr. Mus-"

"You didn't let me finish," Roy said. At this point, he was practically fighting to keep his tone calm. "I didn't come here to trade my subordinate, I came here to do a job and that's what I'm going to do."

"Rubbish!" he said. "You "military dogs" are all the same; you'll gladly trade one life if it means getting what you want!"

"I prefer to see it the other way around. Lieutenant Hawkeye has been of invaluable help to me. She's a fine soldier and a great friend, and I am grateful to have her at my side."

Riza felt her eyes widen. She knew Roy was grateful for her endless assistance, but never in a million years did she believe he would admit it out loud. In a way, she should've been angry with him. Here she was trying to save him and he just went in and ruined it all. And yet, he did it with such conviction, such concern for her while caring little for himself that it made her frown soften into a smile.

" _Colonel…_ "

Unfortunately, Zarman had chosen this moment to turn and see his captives' expression. Needless to say, he was not pleased with what he was seeing.

Her eyes no longer carried any fear. Instead, there was a glimmer of hope and satisfaction in them. Even her frown had softened into a smile, and that's what frightened him. He knew that look all too well; it was love. True, undeniable love. And all for the man who just said no to him.

He growled. "No! I will not stand for this!"

As if on cue, the the guard holding Riza grabbed her by the head and forced her onto her knees. That already put Roy on edge, but once he saw Zarman pull out the small handgun he kept in his holster and point it directly at Riza, he knew he couldn't stand by and watch this.

He could see the fear in her eyes, the angry, almost twitching grimace the man before her was wearing as he spoke again.

"Either you give me your woman, OR ELSE!"

Riza didn't know what to do right now. She'd been held at gunpoint before, but never like this. Not without a weapon to defend herself, and certainly never with a crazed man who supposedly longed for her holding the gun. So, she closed her eyes and waited for the end.

SNAP!

Before she even knew what was happening, Riza opened her eyes to see Zarman's hand on fire. He was screaming loudly as he let go of the gun and fell to his knees, seething at the pain left by the flames as they slowly dissipated, leaving nothing but some visible first degree burns.

"I'd quit whining if I were you, Zarman. You should consider yourself lucky." The man looked up to see the Colonel standing front of him, noticing the flame array etched into the white glove on his right hand. "I only burnt the skin, you'll find your nerves and skeletal structure will be fine once the burn marks heal."

Zarman didn't know what to say, he simply let Roy bore one last grimace into his soul before turning to face his men with that same look.

"Now then, gentlemen, I believe we have a trade to make. You wouldn't want your people to starve now, would you?"

The men raised their hands up to surrender. "No, we're good."

"That's what I thought."

Turning to face Riza, he gave her one last look before snapping his fingers and burning the ropes on her hands, freeing her.

"Let's go, Lieutenant," he said.

He turned his back to her and walked away.

But the Lieutenant didn't pick herself up, right away. She just sat there for a moment, staring at the ground sadly.

Before long, she finally replied with "Yes, Sir." Picking herself up, Riza walked over to her Colonel's side, knowing that they would need to talk about this later.

…

Things had been quiet since leaving Zambia. There was room to sit in the back crate now that the supplies had been delivered , so Roy and Riza decided to sit in the wooden box while Feury and Falman sat in the back seat of the military Tumblr. And Breda? He was sitting in the front seat, chatting with Havoc as he drove them home to East City.

But for the recently rescued Riza Hawkeye, all was not well. Neither she nor Roy had not spoken to each other since entering the vehicle, opting instead to sit together in silence. Him with his arms crossed and his eyes focused out on the dirt road, while she sat on her legs and stared down at her fists, thinking over what to say.

But that was the problem; Riza didn't know what to say. She knew that no matter what came out of her mouth, he'd still be angry with her.

Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't willing to try.

So, the Lieutenant took a deep breath and turned to face her commanding officer. "I'm sorry, Colonel," she said. "But there's no reason to keep yourself angry. We delivered the supplies to the village and you rescued me. Everything's fine."

Roy eyed her. "Is it"

The Lieutenant said nothing, she simply stared down at her hands before answering him. "No…No, it doesn't…"

Yeah, he was still angry with her. Not that she could blame him; she'd almost let herself become someone else's property in an effort to protect him, after all.

"Why?"

Riza remained silent for a moment, thinking over every possible answer she could give him. Of course, she knew there was nothing she could say in her defence that he'd be okay with, so the Lieutenant decided to be open and honest with him.

With her held high, she turned to face the young man.

"Because I swore to protect you, Roy," she said. "That includes keeping you safe from anything that could ruin your reputation, or God forbid, your mental well being. I could tell from the way he was talking that he was serious about making your life a living hell and I couldn't let him get away with it. The last thing I would want is for your dreams to be shattered."

"That may be…But there's no way I could ever let you do that." The moment she heard that, Riza felt her eyes widen as they remained fixated on Roy. He never turned to face her, preferring to stare off into the distance. But now he had that serious, determined gaze in his eyes she knew all too well.

"You're not some gun totting slave, Riza. You're your own person. But that's all he saw you as…," he could feel his hands starting to tense up as he continued speaking. "It makes me sick just thinking about it-"

"Colonel."

Feeling a soft feminine hand place itself onto his hand, Roy let out a gasp. Turning his head around, he came to find himself staring at Riza. Her eyes were warm and concerned looking, as if she were conveying to him to let go of his anger.

"I'm sorry…"

And just like that, the Colonel felt his anger starting to subside. He couldn't help it, though. Whenever Riza allowed herself to show concern for someone, her eyes reflected that.

And for some reason, it relaxed him. Maybe it's because she knew it was her way of keeping him calm when they were alone.

No, he knew her better than that. It was her way of apologizing, that it would never happen again. He couldn't stay mad at her after that.

Letting a smile graze his face, he said "Don't be…"

Roy could see her surprised expression before watching as a warm smile graze her face. The smile that he rarely got to see, the smile he loved, because it conveyed to him the real Riza Hawkeye.

Riza, meanwhile was happy to see a smile forming on her Colonel's face and his body language relaxing. In his own way, he was accepting her apology. And she couldn't have been happier.

"Thank you, Colonel," she said, now staring directly into his warm obsidian eyes. "And thank you for saving my life."

He chuckled. "There's no need to thank me, you know? But I appreciate it."

She said nothing as she kept smiling at him. He too smiled at her for another moment before she finally took her hand off of his.

Now that they'd put all that awkwardness behind them, the two started chatting again. Mostly about work, but also what they might do now that their mission was over and home was just a few hours away.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Feury was watching the duo, smiling at how calm and relaxed they'd become. "It looks like the Colonel's starting to relax a little."

"Well, don't tell me you're surprised," Falman spoke up. "The Colonel's always had a soft

spot for Lieutenant Hawkeye."

Kain smiled. "That's true.

The End


End file.
